Serious Topic

I am going to touch on a topic which I am sure is thought of, but never said. Pirated Design Software. Since I am small time, I dont really have to worry about things - as I have purchased legitimate copies of all my software.

BUT - I am wondering what the status and the moral standings are in the bigger firms. Some tell me they are SO strict, that they would rather lose money than use pirated software.. Others tell me that they are so lax - its unbelievable.

I know there are written rules about using pirated software, but is it really any different than something like Napster?

I know others on this forum will never admit it, but do you know of 'OTHER' people who use pirated software? If so, how much of it is legitimate. Have people REALLY gotten caught? Are others ruining it for people who ACTUALLY buy it?

As I grow my small little company, I want to continue to abide by the rules. But.. what if you get a client with a big offer who says.. 'Oh yeah, burn me a little copy of Dreamweaver so I can update the news page.' If you dont comply, he leaves..

Very tempting.. What would you do??
http://www.animationfactory.com/anim...t_flash_md_clr

All this pirated software creates a billion 14 year olds flooding the market and kills all honest web designers. I think it sucks my self...but what can you do..

Honesty is the best policy...

I guess...

I have seen lots of pros use cracked software. Even large ad agencies.

I have to admit that instead of flash I use swish, instead of director I use MMB, all are VERY CHEAP, and the end result is acceptable.

But, what about the client who wants a token copy of dreamweaver or something? Someone told me they are cracking down on large ad firms. Has anyone else heard this. If it is killing the market, they should.

I knew of an ad agency where the President knowingly ran illegal copies of amost all the design software (ie: Buy one copy of P5.5 and put it on the rest of the 8 designers machines) with the exception of quark which is smart enough to search for the same seral number open on another machine on the network. Eventually, a good friend of mine convinced him to buy all legit copies. It's a slow and expensive process, but something that needs to be done.

I have also run into the "theorectial" example you gave. I came out from the get-go and stated that the best thing they could do would be to buy a copy of Dreamweaver for themselves and it would save them time and money in the long run. I've found if you suggest it from the beginning and make it part of the overall budget the problems are little.

Unfortunately though there are clients out there that want it all. If the hunk of change is that big you're getting - friggin buy it for them for the 300 bucks and walk away with a good concience. For me - it'd be worth it.

I've always try to remain as legal as possible. I mean, if you're getting gigs that pay in the thousands - I think Macromedia and Adobe deserve their bit!

-A02

Well the company I work for.. (it's not a design company) but it's a Huge International Company.. makes sure they have all legit copies of software. When contractors come in with "special" software it's often "kiddied" that they should give us a copy.. but as far as I've seen never done. Maybe cause the company has really deep pockets and they don't hesitate buying copies of programs. One thing I've wondered about though.. is.. say u have a PC with the software u need.. but you get a new PC and it just has the basic stuff on there.. Can u put the copy of the program u need on these new PC or do u need a new copy or license? I'm wondering cause we just all recieved new PC within the last few months and people just bought new software instead of even asking.

As far as pirated software goes.. if your making money off of it you should pay for it..

I have never come accross a client asking for an html editor as part of the job. Never. Smells bad to me.

Well I for one am absolutely against software piracy. As a professional who develops software I believe that everyone deserves to get paid for a job well done.

Even if a company (or individual) can't afford to pay retail for software, there are other legal alternatives. For example, I did not have the $600 Canadian that Flash 5 costs. So I did a little searching on eBay and managed to buy a new copy for $350 Canadian from someone liquidating their stock. I've registered it with Macromedia and I know it's legit.

At the same time, I hate people selling pirated software more than I do casual copiers. These people are absolute scum. I've reported a number of these guys to software vendors over the last while. The most recent one was someone who had an online storefront selling copies of 3D Studio Max 4 for $100.

I don't think piracy will ever be completely stopped, but I want to do anything I can to keep developers writing quality software. Turning in known pirate sites is just one, buying the software is another.

borngamer

hmmm, if they wanted a dreamwever burned on cd - i would give it to them... then let them realise they need to register it after 30days :) - or crack it for themselfs... which in that case, your clear... you had nothing to do with it

i do admit, i have used pirate software - but i also agree with what you say "its no different then downloading mp3's from napster" ...or using winzip for the 122th day when you've opened 267 archives ;) - lol

[i don't think i know one person who has registered winzip!]

hard call... piracy will never be abolished, hard to admit for some... but for the software designers who get all frustrated with this: just remember your no different to the million of other things being 'pirated' or copied - you got any blank audio/video tapes? - anything you shouldn't have on them???

life sucks...

cs

perhaps the licencing system should be changed, ie for non profitable individuals (home users not businesses) the licence should be a lot cheaper.

take director 8.5 for example , in the uk it costs about £900 pounds and comes with a 30 day trial , 30 days?? yeah ok!! you gonna see if its what you want after 30 days? i think not.

anyway this is my take on software, if you make money using it then you should pay a fair licence fee for it, if you make nothing from it then you should pay a much much smaller one.

Quote:

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Originally posted by CrashedStar

i do admit, i have used pirate software - but i also agree with what you say "its no different then downloading mp3's from napster" ...or using winzip for the 122th day when you've opened 267 archives ;) - lol

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Well ---- What is the difference? I guess one you make money on (pirated software), and one you dont (Napster).

As far as loading a software on a NEW pc, I think that is A-OK. You bought the software. Once you own it, you have agreed to using it on one computer.. I dont think it matters which one, does it?

I've argued for years that the price of software is too high. But at the same time, if a company can't turn a nice profit, what's the motivation to develop a product.

I would like to think that if the price of software dropped more people would buy it. But as far as how many more people that would be, I don't really know.

I would love to buy 3D Studio Max R4, but there is no way I can get the type of cash they want for it. My personal limit on software prices is $500CDN for any one product. So, instead of saving up for 3DS, I'll just have to find a cheaper product that will hopefully meet my needs. It would be interesting to know how many people would pay $500 but would not pay $4500. Would the discreet make more money in the long run? Who knows.

As always, this is an interesting debate topic.

borngamer

I just got 3D studio Max R4, And though it seems great I have a very hard time seeing what all the fuss is about. I mean it seems like the more confusing the software the higher the price? lol It very nice but $4500!! I feel way ripped off. Not too mention this thing is going to take me forever to learn..
I would of bought it way sooner if it was even under $1000.
I can't imagine who buys this software other then schools and large firms, and a few idiots like me!lol

As copies of an html, just tell them to DL the trail version from Macromedia. Or DL it for them. If they want any kind of software that won't help with the design..F**k um...thats not your problem...I wouldn't even get involved with doing that....

kitchee

and we haven't touched on the worst one yet-- fonts

How many can say they haven't used a single font of questionable parentage for design development?

The problem is that, while you may use 100 fonts during your design studies, you only use a few (or just one) for the client boards.

My method has been to buy fonts before I use them for presentation, but never to look the other way when fonts become available to me.

So that leaves me with hundreds of illegal fonts on my hard disk... a problem? yes... but unfortunately the price for a well-made font (~300 USD or more) makes it far too expensive to own legitimate copies for development purposes.

To make matters worse, copyright grey areas in the US (and Canada, I presume) make blantant font copying more or less legal... Corel offers fonts such as "Universal" which is an exact copy of Univers and "Humanist" which is Gill or I'm a little dutch girl. So I can own a copy of the font for 30 cents and use it in projects? I think not.

Hopefully intellectual property issues will become much clearer in the wake of Napster, etc.. I really want to support type design, but can't afford to pay for every font that I consider.

ack...